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RAF jet pilots the busiest they have been for 25 years, dropping 11 times more bombs than at the height of the Afghanistan conflict, the Ministry of Defence has said.

British military jets are “pounding” Isil positions in Iraq and Syria in “some of their most intense operations for decades”, defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon said.

The news came as Sir Michael said he would extend a deployment of British royal engineers by six months at a base in western Iraq.

Defence Secretary Michael FallonCredit:
Hannah McKay

Royal Air Force jets have dropped 11 times more bombs in the past 12 months than they did in the busiest year of action in Afghanisan a decade ago.

Sir Michael will host a meeting of the 16 countries who are taking part in the battle against Isil - or Daesh - at the Foreign Office on Thursday this week.

A year after MPs voted to expand Britain's military activity aginst Isil from Iraq to Syria, the Royal Air Force is operating at its most intense for 25 years, far outstripping UK involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Working with our international partners to defeat these evil Daesh terrorists helps make the world more secureSir Michael

Ministry of Defence figures show that the Royal Air Force is now operating at its highest intensity in a single theatre of operation for 25 years with six Typhoons, eight Tornados and Reapers over Iraq and Syria.

In the past 12 months, the UK's aircraft flew for 14,000 hours more than twice the 5,600 hours lown during the busiest 12 months of operations in Afghanistan.

The RAF has also dropped 11 times more ordnance on Syria and Afghanistan in the past year - 1,276 strikes - than in Afghanistan - 119 strikes.

Sources said the RAF's activity was more intense because there were no troops on the ground in the threatre of war, and the jets were flying further to deliver their payloads from an RAF base in Cyprus.

Sir Michael said: “Britain is stepping up and making one of the biggest military contributions to defeating Daesh.

“The British Army have trained over 30,000 Iraqi and Peshmerga who are taking the fight to Daesh and the RAF, alongside our allies, are pounding Daesh in some of the most intense operations for decades.

“Working with our international partners to defeat these evil Daesh terrorists helps make the world more secure and the streets of the Britain safer.”

The key objectives will be to look forward to how the Coalition plans to push forward “post Mosul” to secure Iraq for the long term and defeat Daesh across the Middle East, officials said.

Sir Michael said that as part of this the deployment of a squadron of up to 80 Royal Engineers will be extended for a further six months as they work to provide better training facilities at the al Asad base, western Iraq.

UK forces have also been training the Iraqis have been sharing their expertise working against improvised explosive devices.

More than 31,000 Iraqi and Peshmerga forces have now been trained. Overall, Britain has over 1,350 men and women committed to the operation against Daesh across the Middle East, in Cyprus and in the UK.